The concept of "Digital Transformation" has become one of the most focused topics in the tourism sector in recent years. Digital transformation offers the ability to plan, implement, and analyze every moment of the long business process in tourism, including pre-reservation marketing activities, pricing, online reservation processes, accommodation experience, post-stay CRM, and customer relations.
With the more active use of artificial intelligence applications, I believe we have reached important points in data interpretation and taking action. In short, "Digital Transformation" returns to the tourism sector as cost savings, more reservations, error reduction, incredible speed, and high customer satisfaction.
"Digitalization is our best ally"
Planning and monitoring every moment of a touristic activity digitally from end to end means eliminating the factor of "human error." But the key phrase here is not elimination of "humans," but elimination of "human error." Dystopian views create great fears that machines will replace humans. I do not agree with this.
Turkey’s tourism sector increases its level of digitalization every year due to the pandemic, legal obligations, global market competition, and so forth. Compared to 10 years ago, the way all tourism businesses—from hotels to agencies, restaurants to entertainment venues—operate has changed dramatically. Yet a small research would show you that the tourism sector is in great need of human resources. There are many reasons for this: call it the pandemic, lack of vision, or economic deadlocks. But my conclusion is this: accelerating digitalization does not mean less need for human resources, it means a change in the "quality" of that need.
Digital literacy
I want to illustrate this with a simple example. Today, when hiring a housekeeping staff member, a basic level of "digital literacy" is expected. This may seem strange to some. However, for hotels that use web-based digital work management systems, this is a necessity. Because it is expected that the staff can, via their own smartphones or internet-enabled devices, report the cleanliness/dirty status of rooms, minibar information, malfunction notifications, follow their assigned tasks, and even create new work orders. The same applies to service staff, technical service employees, and kitchen teams.
Why are "Call Centers" still the darlings of businesses in reservation processes where digitalization is very active? Because humans are at the center of tourism.
Shaping the future
Here, the "quality" concept I mentioned earlier comes to the fore. Thanks to digitalization and online reservation systems, all bookings coming through your online sales channels can be sent directly to the front desk, freeing you from the problem of short-stay rooms. This is very good so far. But you cannot ensure the smile of your reception staff to the guest, their competent answers to questions, or your kitchen chef walking around tables and sharing recipes through digitalization.
The same applies to strategic decision-making about the future of your business. We must eliminate the lack of vision that cannot interpret forecast reports, thinks occupancy is more important than proper pricing, and believes CRM is just sending birthday messages. Digitalization must bring a professional perspective. We must update all tourism education with current approaches and technology-based methods. I am sure we will see the effects of this mindset not only in tourism but in every moment of our lives. Because a well-trained tourism professional will internalize sustainability, green tourism, and service quality concepts when entering the sector. Their economic and environmental contributions to their destinations will be undeniable.
I believe software companies like us, which are the most important pillars of the tourism sector’s digitalization process, have critical roles in this regard. Therefore, as the Elektraweb Hotel Program, we provide our program free of charge to 193 universities, vocational schools, and high schools that offer tourism education. We extensively share knowledge with educators who write textbooks.
Journey to science fiction movies
It is expected that mobile usage rates will approach 100% in the upcoming period. Solutions centered on the individual, augmented reality, and wearable technologies will become more accessible and widespread. Many things seen in science fiction films are coming true: thanks to your digital travel companion, you might find yourself in the restaurant you will love most in the city, your friend could select the most favorite items on the menu for you, and language barriers might disappear through wearable technologies. Thanks to artificial intelligence, we can talk about a personalized tourism era. Our trip will be like a tailor-made suit; the destinations we want to see, how we make reservations, how we spend our vacation, and our accommodation will be exactly as we desire.
